What is the westminster system?

Answer 1

The British system of Government is a Parliamentary Democracy, whereby a number of political parties exist within the UK which the British voting public have the right to elect to govern the country.

The party to get the most votes at a general election becomes the Government, and that which gets the second largest share of the vote becomes the official Opposition. The senior figures within the Opposition, who would become Government Ministers or Secretaries if their party was in power, are known as the Shadow Cabinet.

Elections are held every four or five years (they HAVE to be held after five unless in highly exceptional circumstances, such as in time of war). All representatives of political parties to be elected to Parliament have seats in the House of Commons, and participate in debates and discussion as to the nation's laws, international position on various issues, current affairs, and so on. If a new law is to be passed, it begins by becoming a proposal tabled by one or more MPs. If it gets enough support from other members of Parliament (either from a single party or from MPs from a number of different parties, which is known as 'cross-bench support'), then it is tabled as a Bill, to be voted on in the Commons as to whether it should become law. If the vote is No, then it is thrown out, but if it is Yes, then the Bill moves on to the Upper Chamber of Parliament which is known as the House of Lords.

The House of Lords is made up of persons who have been ennobled- some are hereditary aristocrats, others are ordinary people who have been knighted or ennobled by The Queen for services rendered to the country (this often includes a number of former Prime Ministers or prominent former MPs). It also includes some senior High Court judges, bishops, and top-ranking military personnel. The Lords has the power to accept or veto a Bill introduced by the House of Commons- if it accepts the Bill, then it becomes a new Law, but if it objects then the Bill goes back to the Commons to see if it can be amended in such a way as to overcome the Lord's objections. But in addition to this, the Lords holds it's own debates about the country's political state and current affairs, and can suggest to the Commons that it consider introducing Bills on various matters. The Prime Minister and the Commons has an ultimate power of veto over whether the Lords accepts or rejects a Bill- if it really wanted to, the Commons could defy the Lord's rejection of a Bill and force it through as Law anyway, but this is regarded as undemocratic and very unnacountable (the last time it happened was when Tony Blair took the UK to war in Iraq- the Lords vetoed his decision, but Blair was determined to have his war come what may, and overrode the Lord's objections).

Order is kept in the House of Commons by The Speaker, who can be of any elected Party and whose job it is to keep Members of Parliament 'in order' and ensure they behave themselves. Sometimes during heated debates, or over issues that are highly emotive, debates can get rowdy and chaotic, or descend to levels of personal abuse or slander. This is not permitted, and an MP who becomes too personally unpleasant towards another MP can be expelled from the Chamber for the rest of the day (this happened to former Labour Neil Kinnock in the mid 1990s, when he taunted the then Prime Minister John Major for not having been to University). The Speaker has no fixed term of office- he or she can serve in the job for as long as they wish, and are entitled to cast their own votes in debates over Bills.

Parliament goes into what is known as Recess during the Summer- basically, a long Summer holiday that lasts for about 10 weeks, although in an emergency, such as a major terrorist attack or a major financial crisis, the Prime Minister has the power to recall Parliament to deal with the situation.

The main two political parties in the UK are the Conservatives and Labour, although over the past 25 years Labour has ceased to become a truly Socialist party and is now more Centre Right. There are also the Liberal Democrats, Ulster Unionists, Welsh and Scottish Nationalists, and Independent MPs who belong to no party but have been elected by their constituency to fight for representation for their own voters. At the last general election, the first Green MP Caroline Lucas was also elected. The Irish Republican Party Sinn Fein can be elected to the Commons, but refuse to take their seats in it as they do not recognise British sovereignty over Northern Ireland (so it begs the question why they ever bother to stand as MPs at all if they can't join in debates!)

There are other parties in the UK who have a high media profile but no MPs- these include the United Kingdom Independence Party, which is anti-Europe and wants to take Britain out of the EU, and the British National Party, a Fascist organisation that developed from the old National Front and is equivalent to Mussolini's Fascists. However, the UK Independence Party do have seats in the European Parliament.

(P.S. When MPs are debating in the Commons, it is customary for them to address their questions and replies through the Speaker, and not directly to each other. This may sound strange, but it's just the way that the system has worked for the past 200 years or so- if an MP wants to address another MP, he or she cannot do so directly, but has to address their statement to the Speaker. The only exception to this is Prime Minister's Question Time, which is held weekly, usually on Wednesday afternoons and when Ministers and MPs CAN question the PM directly).